AERIAL POLLEN DIVERSITY OF TWO BIO-GEOGRAPHICAL ZONES OF WEST BENGAL AND THEIR CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN ALLERGIC DISEASES

Abstract

The present study has been carried out to assess the allergenicity of dominant pollen types from the atmosphere of two bio-geographical zones of West Bengal. During the study period (2014-2015), 64 different kinds of pollens belonging to 38 families were recorded from Santiniketan while, 56 pollen types were recorded belonging to 36 families. Total number of pollen grains trapped during two year’s study in Santiniketan was much higher than that of Chandannagar which reflects the rich pollen diversity of Santiniketan area due to its luxuriant vegetational patterns. In the present survey, grass pollen (Poaceae) was found to be most dominant (6.64% and 9.01%) in both the sites. Antigenic extract of 21 pollen types were selected for skin prick tests (SPT). The allergenic pollens selected for the present study belong to families: Apocynaceae, Arecaceae, Bignoniaceae, Brassicaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Cycadaceae(gymnosperm), Dipterocarpaceae, Fabaceae, Lythraceae, Meliaceae, Myrtaceae, Phyllanthaceae, Poaceae, and Solanaceae. Out of 1687 patients, 70.92 % subjects showed +1 skin sensitivity in SPT grade towards one and more than one antigenic extract. Saccharum spontaenum, Alstonia scholaris and Cassia sophera were clinically found to be most sensitive among these pollens. KEY WORDS Pollen diversity, Chandannagar, Santiniketan, allergenicity, skin prick tests, allergenic pol